Wednesday, November 9, 2016

Honoring and Advocating for Women Veterans on November 11

Honoring and Advocating for Women Veterans on November 11

On Veterans Day we honor
the service of our veterans. But we should also focus on the sacrifice and the
service of our women veterans and service members. The number of female
veterans has soared since 1990, from 4 percent of all veterans to 8 percent
today, or about 1.8 million. More than 280,000 female soldiers have been
returned from deployments in Iraq
and Afghanistan
in the last decade.

Recently
Governor Cuomo signed a bill that will help New York’s women veterans economically. The
Veterans’ Pension Bill expanded pension benefits to public workers who
served in the military, providing a pension credit to veterans who are now New York state residents
after five years of public service. Previously only veterans who have served in
specific conflicts receive up to additional three years of service credit in
the pension system.

Now veterans who served in Somalia, Bosnia,
Haiti, Kosovo,
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and
the Korean DMZ who were not eligible for the military service credit, or women
who served in non-combat roles, are eligible for the credit.

Women veterans have raised
concerns that the Veteran’s Administration has been slow to change. The VA’s
health care system that has for generations catered almost exclusively to men
has been slow to recognize needs of that the 2.3 million female veterans
represent the fastest-growing population turning to the agency.

About 200,000 women are
currently serving in the active duty U.S. military, about 14 percent of
the military population. That number is expected to double within the next
decade. There have been some real gains for women service members, especially
as the military has recognized that the work-life-family balance needs to be
addressed.

Through a
program called the Career Intermission Program, service members can take one to
three years off – while retaining benefits and receiving a small percentage of
their usual monthly pay. For those who take time off, their career is
effectively frozen while they are away, but they are not penalized when they
come back and seek future promotions.

The Navy has doubled the
maternity leave for all female service members while extending hours at Navy
and Marine Corps childcare centers across those services. About 91,000 of
active duty female service members were married as of January, with about
27,000 of those in the Navy and Marine Corps, so child care and maternity leave
are key services.

The Army issued a
service-wide breastfeeding policy, making it the last military branch to
implement guidelines for supporting nursing service members with infants.

Marines
have been challenged on their unconscious prejudices and presuppositions as
women get the opportunity to become marine grunts for the first time. The
Marine Corps rolled out mandatory training for all Marines prior to the first
female rifleman hit boot camp, aiming to set conditions for a smooth transition
and head off cultural resistance.

One of the visible
cultural changes has been a growing understanding of the issues of women
veterans as they have been elected to Congress. There are now four female
combat veterans in Congress. And they have contributed to the discussions about
the changing face of the Armed Forces, which is now officially open to women
joining combat units across the board.

Tammy
Duckworth (D-IL), a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot, is newly elected to the
US Senate from her House of Representatives seat. She joins Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) in the Senate. In the House, Rep.
Martha McSally (R-AZ), and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) have also served in
the military, giving them a unique perspective on women veteran issues.

Speaking of the election, there is concern from LBGTQ
Americans that the election of Donald Trump will set back the progress the
country has made on social issues revolving around gender and sexuality and
identity. The
Pentagon had announced June 30 that it was ending the ban on transgender
people’s ability to serve openly in the U.S. military.

The
Pentagon also said transgender service members will receive the
same medical coverage as any other military member. Service members’ health
coverage will include hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery, if
doctors deem those procedures necessary. Will that policy continue under a Trump
Administration?

Also in
June, the U.S. Marine Corps changed more than a dozen occupational titles to
make them gender-neutral as the military aims to integrate more women into
combat roles. The decision removed the word "man" from 19 job titles.
Roles such as "basic infantryman" and "antitank missileman"
will become "basic infantry Marine" and "antitank missile
gunner." Will the military continue down this path or revert to a
more sexist work place?

One issue of concern to veterans and all Americans is the on-going prevalence of food
insecurity among military households. Households with veterans who served since
1975 are at higher risk of food insecurity than non-veteran households and
households with veterans that served prior to 1975, according to a study in
Public Health Nutrition. Five percent of military households with children five
years old or younger have experienced food insecurity.

Certainly
the issue of sexual assault in the military (co-called friendly fire) has been
getting a lot of attention under President Obama. New York Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand has been a frequent critic of the military’s response to the
issue. She released a report last May that said the military justice system
remains dysfunctional in handling sexual-assault cases and only prosecuted 22
percent of the 329 cases her office reviewed as part of an investigation
focusing on just four military bases.

Will the military continue to try to make progress on this
and other critical issues for women and all service members under a Trump
Administration? That is one of the things we’ll all be watching.